This invention relates to board games and, in particular, to a checkerboard in which an array of trap doors occupies the field of play and a predetermined sub-set of the trap doors can be activated.
A checkerboard has long provided a versatile background for a variety of games of different strategies, e.g. from the elimination strategy of checkers played in its simplest form to the exhausting tactics and territorial control of chess. For these and many other games, the venerable checkerboard has provided a simple and versatile field of play.
Despite the versatility of a checkerboard, attempts have been made to provide additional features. U.S. Pat. No. 2,684,247--De Bella--discloses a 10.times.10 checkerboard in which eight of the twenty squares adjacent the centerline between players include a trapdoor for eliminating an opponent's piece. Four trapdoors are actuated individually by each player and include an arm for sweeping in a piece from a square adjoining the square with a trap door. While providing a variant way of eliminating an opponent's pieces, the trapdoors and arms encumber the board when playing without their use and provide only a limited amount of surprise. Further, it is possible to cross the field of play without encountering a trapdoor or an arm.
In view of the foregoing, it is therefore an object of the invention to provide a random number of trapdoors in a board game.
Another object of the invention is to provide a board game in which each square in a checkerboard includes a trap door but not all of the trapdoors in each half of the board are used.
A further object of the invention is to provide a board game including trapdoors in which the location of the active trap doors is determined by each player prior to play.
Another object of the invention is to provide a board game in which a plurality of trap doors can be arranged asymmetrically relative to a centerline between the players.